Crabtree Falls Trail II

 

Crabtree Falls Trail II

12" x 16" oil on Belgian Linen

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I really like this painting but, as usual, the iPhone camera just doesn't do it justice. If you open the photo and zoom in you can really see what's going on - many layers. 

Tye River Barn II

 

Tye River Barn II

8" x 8" oil on board

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Another one from our winter vacation to Nelson County, VA. I started it outside but had to finish it at home because it got too dark and cold, and we had to go home the next day. I was drawn by the light on the pine tree - it looks a lot warmer than it was! Low 20's, and the paint was like spackle.  

Urbanna Mansion II

 

Urbanna Mansion II

6" x 6" oil on board

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I'm behind on posting, so the next few might be a little short. I was hesitant to even post this one because I can no longer get my iphone to take an accurate photo of a painting. I guess I'm old because I'm completely befuddled by the new Iphoto settings, and I'm using words like befuddled. It takes so much adjusting to make my photos look like my paintings that it's almost not worth it. Needless to say, this looks much better in person. 

Snowy Path

 

Snowy Path

12" x 12" oil on board

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Based on a 2010 snowstorm that dumped two feet of snow on Northern, VA., not the most recent storm that dumped 8 inches of ice pellets and took me 8 hours to shovel after it turned to concrete. 

On another note, I've had people tell me they have no idea how to buy one of my paintings. I know...I need a website, Etsy, Shopify, something.  But the idea of search engine optimization, maintaining a constant social media presence, and paying a monthly fee plus service charges in order to (hopefully) sell some paintings makes me feel nauseous. 

I should probably put this in the top banner of the blog, but every painting I post is for sale, unless I say otherwise. If you want to buy a painting, click the "Inquire by email" link that I add to every post, and email me.  I will tell you the price, and if you want it, I'll ship it to you.  I know it's not as easy as pressing a button, but it's the best I got.  Maybe I should go back to adding Paypal/Venmo links? I appreciate your suggestions. 

Green Vase with Glass Vile and Flower

 

Green Vase with Glass Vile and Flower

12" x 12" oil on board

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Great title, huh? I attended another weekend painting workshop with the great Jon Redmond, this time focussed on still life. Jon had us pick a simple setup just to practice the techniques he was showing us, so this is what I scavenged from the Wayne Art Center supply closet, which was packed full of old bottles, vases, cups, trays, fake flowers, fabrics, etc.. I'm not even sure what the little yellow glass is - maybe an old perfume bottle? 

I've heard this before, and Jon said it again, but painting is really about learning to see. Jon is one of the greatest painters alive today, and his vision is unreal. I WAS able to see most of what he saw, which was encouraging, but he can instantly spot a a value or temperature or perspective that's off while it takes me considerably more time if I see it at all. But, I guess that's what happens when you spend your entire life painting and working with other artists who are the best in the world.  The more I can do that, the better I'll see. Jon said my painting was, "well done."  I'll take it!

Berkshire Barn

 

Berkshire Barn

6" x 6" oil on board

SOLD

This is based on an image from a recent trip to Western Massachusetts for my great Aunt Jane's memorial service. Her ashes were spread in a beautiful hemlock forest not far from the barn. She was a great lady, and I'm glad I was present to help send her on her next adventure.  

Avalanche Creek

 

Avalanche Creek

12" x 16" oil on board

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This painting is based on an image from our trip out west last summer. The Hidden Lake trail is the most popular hike in Glacier National Park, and we woke at 5am in hopes of finding a spot in the tiny parking lot to no avail. Hidden Lake was the one and only time on our trip when crowds prevented us from doing what we wanted to do. We gave it our best shot but after circling the lot for an hour, hawking down people who might be leaving, and alternating breaks in the 15 minute line to the latrine, we cut our losses and drove the Going to the Sun Road in search of a consolation prize. Avalanche Lake was it.  We lucked into a parking spot, otherwise, it would have been a similar wait. 

We were disappointed to miss Hidden Lake, but Avalanche Lake was still spectacular. The painting is Avalanche Creek, which parallels the trail and narrows at points into tiny slot canyons of green glacial water. Our failure at Hidden Lake is now our excuse to go back.  I'm ready! 

Avalanche Lake: 

Hay Bales at Dickie Brothers Orchard

Hay Bales at Dickie Brothers Orchard

12" x 12" oil on board

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This is a scene from Dickie Brothers orchard down in Nelson County, VA. As a kid, my family made the drive over the mountain on route 56 from Staunton, VA each fall to Dickie Brothers for apple picking. Route 56 crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway in Shenandoah National Park and passes Crab Tree Falls on the way. The road is extremely windy and my mom always used to get car sick. Even so, apple picking was one of my favorite days of the year - picnicking by the Tye River and all the apples I could eat.  Sarah and I still make it to Dickie Brothers on occasion, usually for anniversary trips, and not a day passes that I don't eat my mid-morning apple...this painting looks great in a thick, gold plein air frame.  Let me know if you want it!

Trout Lake Trail (Yellowstone National Park)

 

Trout Lake Trail (Yellowstone National Park)

16" x 20" oil on canvas

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I haven't painted since July 4th. I got burned out on painting because I was painting to post on Instagram and it took the joy out of it.

My family took a trip to Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks shortly after my last painting on July 4th, and it put the joy back in my heart. I took something from those places, the Tetons in particular, that is still there. Mountains have always been a comforting, calming force in my life, but I experienced a connection with Grand Teton that gave me a vision of my highest self: an eternal, unchanging, presence. 

The vision is still strong.  There was a long gap between paintings, but I've been working on being that presence, and I painted this because I wanted to, and it was fun -not because I cared how it turned out. 

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

Yellow Pitcher and African Violet

8" x 8" oil on board

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Painted on a rainy Sunday on the sun porch back in June. I don't have a good spot for the African violet during the winter, so it loses its flowers and usually recovers in the fall, just in time to go back inside for the winter.  I need to invest in a good plant light. 

Woodpile II

Woodpile II

12" x 12" oil on board

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I painted this en plein air (outdoors) over a two day span between the hours of 9:30am and 11am.  I got most of it down the first day and then focussed on details the second day.  One subtlety that drew me to the scene was the crisscrossing hills in the background.  

On another note...I've been on instagram for a little over a year, and I'm thinking of getting off of it. Throughout the past year, I've felt more distracted, less focussed and present as well as more anxious and down on my abilities as a painter and even as a person.  I am now completely addicted to my phone, and I hate it. I enjoyed my trip to Highland County less because of my obsession with posting and seeing how many likes my paintings were getting.  I'm thinking about posts and how the paintings will look online instead of just enjoying painting and being in nature. It is fantastic to be able to see the best painters in the world in one place and then scroll down for some rare footage of the Grateful Dead but for all the reasons mentioned, it's just not worth it.  I'm looking for ways to simplify my life and this seems like a no-brainer.  Just have to hit those buttons...

Cattle Gate

Cattle Gate

12" x 16" oil on board

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Conditions went from bright sunshine to long periods of thick cumulus clouds and back to bright sunshine during the two or so hours I worked on this painting.  I think I started around 2pm...The blended lighting conditions might be noticeable if you look closely, which I'm pretty sure is some kind of plein air no-no.  But ya know what?  Don't care...

More and more, I prefer paintings that are not strait forward.  I want a little poetry, mystery and abstraction, and I actually get more of a response when I create that type of painting than I do for more realistic paintings. So I like this one - it's got a lot going on.  

Peonies

Peonies

12" x 12" oil on board

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Once peonies start to go bad, they go bad quickly.  So of course, I decided to paint these on the last day of shelf life after cutting them from my back yard.  Maybe they could have used another sitting, but at least it's not overdone!  

Below the High Meadow

 

Below the High Meadow

24" x 24" oil on canvas

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In real life, I'm an 8th grade special education teacher with two young kids that never stop moving.  So, while it may seem like I spend all of my time painting, in reality, a lot of the painting takes place at 5am on weekends, in short bursts while my kids are doing other things or in rare moments of freedom like my yearly solo trip to Highland County. That's also the reason why most of my paintings are small and completed in one sitting without a lot of touch up once the moment has passed. 

Over the winter, however, I decided to try having a larger painting going that I would visit here and there during spare moments.  I liked this approach at first, however, after the initial excitement, it became a little tedious, and I just wanted to finish the painting.  I may try it again this winter, but I do prefer to paint quickly, preferably outdoors.  

The painting is partly based on an image from a hike to Seneca Creek/High Meadows in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia and partly imagined. The imagined part is the top right quarter.  In the image, you can't see through the trees, but it felt a little claustrophobic, so I added the ridge in the background and the little spots of sky. 

The approach felt tedious, but I guess it paid off because the painting was accepted to the Prince William County Art Society's, "best of the region," art show for Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William County.  I didn't realize what it meant to have a painting accepted into the show until I attended the reception and saw the other pieces.  Amazing! I didn't win, but it was a great experience and I received some great feedback.  A couple of the winners told me that my painting was one of their favorites and that they voted for it in the "people's choice" voting, which is still taking place. 

If you're interested in this one, I'll warn you that the price is a little higher than usual.  It's a big painting and, all in all, I spent over 50 hours on it.  

April 5th, 5pm

April 5th, 5pm

8" x 8" oil on Board

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Fairfield Porter has a painting called, six o' clock (linked). I haven't researched the meaning of the name, but I'm guessing it was chosen because the viewer can look at the painting and, based on light and shadows and other details, guess the exact time it was painted and maybe a lot more about what was going on in and around the scene. I don't mean to put myself in the same sentence as Fairfield Porter, but it is my goal to pass along a sense of time and place.  Can you tell that it was one of the first warm evenings of spring, or that my kids were squirting themselves with the hose behind me? Or maybe that my wife was sitting in a chair to my left, having a drink? My dog was wandering around? I could hear lawnmowers and cardinals and bumblebees buzzing in the redbud behind me. I was stressed out because I had just finished doing the taxes and we had to pay a hell of a lot, while our 401K's and index funds were bleeding out money. But I didn't think about that for a while. Did you get all that?

Farmhouse

 

Farmhouse

8" x 8" oil on board

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This is an image of the farmhouse that we used to rent in Highland County, VA, that is sadly no longer available for rent. I tried out a new palette from another favorite painter, Richard Oversmith, that I'm really liking.  The palette I was using from the workshop with Jon Redmond had a couple of colors, cadmium red light and sap green, that I just don't find much use for.  Richard Oversmith's palette uses a different red and green that match better to the way I see things and result in a fresher look, in my opinion. I'm happy with this one and hope to turn it into a larger painting. 

I'm going to email the owners of the farmhouse to see if they'll let me on the property to paint this June when I'm out there for my annual solo painting retreat. 

Nelson County Back Road

Nelson County Back Road

9" x 12" oil on board

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Although I used a photo reference for this painting, I tried to paint as though I was outside - meaning, quickly and without a lot of thinking in the moment. That's my favorite way to paint and one of the reasons why I prefer to paint outside. Outside, conditions change so quickly that you don't have time to overanalyze, which is what I do when I have too much time on my hands.  I do think it has a fresh look to it. 

Strickler Knob

 

Strickler Knob

9" x 12" oil on board

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Strickler Knob is a great but difficult hike that involves a lot of rock-hopping - not great for little kids or dogs, but the views are spectacular. The gap in the mountains is Route 211 near Luray, VA. 

Would my paintings be better if I didn't do them on Friday night after a grueling week of teaching and little sleep? Maybe...

Valentine's Boquet

 

Valentine's Bouquet 

11" x 14" oil on board

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These flowers were a Valentine's gift for my wife, Sarah, but I'll admit that I had this painting in mind when I bought them.  I bought a nice bottle of wine and made a lobster dinner, too, so it wasn't totally selfish.  I may still make some changes to this because the background colors distract a bit from the flowers. 

One more thing: It seems I did not know how to spell bouquet before this post.  In addition to making a dumb grammatical mistake on Instagram when I posted this involving duel vs. dual, I just realized that I spelled bouquet incorrectly.  

Hidden Hollow

 

Hidden Hollow

12" x 12" oil on board

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I like the way this turned out, considering how it started. This is another one from the Seldom Seen property that I visit out in Highland County, VA. To get to the hidden hollow, you have to hike up and over a small mountain.  I did this with all my painting gear on my back - no big deal...this was during Virginia's first real cold snap back in early January and deep in the mountains with no urban radiational heating, it was cold! My poor dog Rainey, faithful as she is, sat by my side the entire time.  I could tell she was getting cold and on top of that, she had munched down on some cow pies and wasn't feeling her best. I was getting cold too, so I reached a point where I thought I could head back to the cabin and touch it up there (although I forgot to take a reference photo).  But, once I had everything packed up, I realized the painting wouldn't fit in my panel carrier.  That meant I had to carry the painting back down the small mountain in my hands without dropping it, which I did...Until I got to the cabin door and a gust of wind blew it out of my hands and onto Rainey's back.  Rainey was covered in paint and my painting was scratched up and covered with dog hair. I picked out the hair, but it took a few weeks to get around to fixing it up.  I tried to build on the colors that were there and since I didn't have a reference photo, it was mostly by feel.  I did leave a small patch of scratchiness in the lower left just because.